SOUKYUU NO FAFNER: DEAD AGGRESSOR - HEAVEN AND EARTH

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaSoukyuu no Fafner
ANIME DramaSoukyuu no Fafner: EXODUS
MOVIE DramaSoukyuu no Fafner: BEHIND THE LINE

REVIEWS

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  BMAP

  30/100
  How Not to Make a Sequel Movie: The Guide

  __Context:__ I watched this on the SAVE Blu-ray published by Funimation, which also included the complete original series. I consider myself a mecha fan, and one of my all time favorite shows is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I am neutral on the use of CG in anime. __Quick, Spoiler-Free Version:__If you liked the original _Fafner_ series, this movie is sure to sate your appetite for more. However, it carries over all of the problems from the first run as well. The only people I can recommend this to are __DIEHARD FAFNER FANS.__ __Full Review (CONTAINING SPOILERS)__I'm just going to start this review by saying this: I think watching Fafner, and furthermore this sequel movie, has been a complete waste of time. It is mind-boggling to me that a sequel series has been produced. I'll start with animation quality. CG is fine. CG combined with regular animation techniques, also fine. CG and regular animation that doesn't move- no good. It's kind of hard to talk about animation quality, when there isn't a lot of animation to begin with. It's not as bad as in the original series, but get ready for lots of people standing and talking, sitting and talking, and panning shots of still or barely moving landscapes. What is there is really pretty looking, but when it doesn't move, well, it just becomes too noticeable. What about the characters? Well, H&E shuffles the deck a little bit, and deals itself one of the worst hands ever. This time, Kazuki is left alone on main character duty, with Soshi gone and Maya somehow disappearing. She's not dead, she just only shows up for the fights and a couple other scenes, where she says very little and does even less, with Canon handled in much the same way. Kenji and Sakura, aside from one quite literally one touching scene, have no development or discern able ark. Koyo also returns, conviently in an invisible form, and in a particularly hilarious scene, gets ordered to take off- whereupon we get a shot of the empty cockpit. The other Fafner pilots are the 'junior varsity' team, made up of cheerleader level characters from the original series. Doma, whose first name I cannot be arsed to remember because he only shows up for a gag episode in the first series (before doing nothing of note except getting Mamoru's Goubain mask), has no arc. Kenji tells him not to be reckless towards the beginning, but at the end of the movie he...recklessly jumps in front of a super-powered Festum attack. Seri is the first to remark upon the fact that the Festum appear to be saying something when they die, also does not change. Akira and Rina, brother and sister, also return, although I swear on my life Akira was not in the original series. And they kind of have an arc! They are estranged from one another... because Akira doesn't accept the loss of their parents(?)... and at the end of the movie, they pilot a Fafner together. There are two new characters of note, Miwa Hino and Misao Kurusu. Miwa is the baby that Yumiko was pregnant with, and surprise! She's got the power to communicate with Festum and is technically a core type(?) She is pretty much a McGuffin, who has to be taken from point A to point B so we have a little plot. Amazing. Misao Kurusu is a new Festum that has been created to more directly speak with the Humans? Even though the humans were already able to speak with them through people like Miwa and Tsubaki? He struggles with his desire to end the fighting, and his inability to do so. He is also somehow protecting Soshi, so that he can be revived at the end of the film. Yup, that's right, two more pointless characters who only exist because they couldn't be written in as things! The rest of the supporting cast also returns, but they do not do much of note either, just get sick and unhappy a little bit to increase tension. So, if you've been keeping score so far, the story is in pretty bad shape with no characters to support it. Even Kazuki can't save it, as he did the original series. The plot essentially feels like a succession of events, rather than a progression. Human force drops a bomb on the Festum's Mir. Misao shows up on the island. Festum attack the island. Fafners defeat them. More Festum show up. Fafners defeat some more. The movie lacks a definitive 'final boss,' a clear picture of a final enemy, because having Mark Nicht show up again for no real reason feels cheap and uninteresting. More should have been done with the Human force angle, since the start of this movie is based on their actions. Instead, get ready for more bland action, so repetitive and chaotic it might as well not be happening at all. The one saving grace of this movie is the music. This was big for the original series as well, and it is once again in full effect. Even when the dialogue, writing, or action is hitting the mark, the music is. A lot of times i found myself tuning out what was happening with the music instead. The OP, ED, and Insert themes are all nice as well, but the score is the real star of this show. [Seriously, give it a listen here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AePhbseXYM&list=PLketLmwD3ikyITrVXh34jvNmQPm3FzmAd) even if you don't watch the show or movie. In closing, Fafner is a show I had a lot of hope coming into, but upon leaving I am filled with nothing but regret of my wasted time. I honestly don't know who the diehard Fafner fans are, but if you're out there, sorry I'm trashing your series so much, but maybe grow some taste eh? __Final Scores:__ Animation: 1/2 Story: 0/2 Sound: 2/2 Characters: 0/2 Enjoyment: 0/2 __Total Score: 3/10__
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